1. Technical Field
The present device is a stackable, removable, adjustable shelving system for separating items stored in an ice chest or cooler from exposure to ice, ice substitute, or ice melt in the cooler or ice chest, the shelving system including at least one perforated shelf and reversible leg extensions.
2. Background Information
Many adults and children who live along or visit the coast enjoy going fishing, shrimping, and crabbing. These recreational fishermen, shrimpers, crabbers, etc. usually bring portable ice coolers filled with ice along with them on their trips to hold their beverages and food, and/or their catch for the day. Conventional coolers do keep such items cool for a time, but there is a need to keep water from the ice melting in the cooler separate from the contents of the cooler. Aside from the obvious inconvenience of wet food and beverages stored in ice melt, keeping fish, shrimp, crabs, oysters, etc. in melted water in a cooler over time can subject the handler and consumers to bacterial contamination. If one oyster is contaminated with a species of bacteria, for example, the bacteria is likely to multiply and spread in the melt water on a warm day, particularly among the oysters at the bottom of the cooler. The water increases the likelihood that other seafood in the cooler will also be contaminated, particularly when the cooler is swayed by the motion of a boat, or moved by the fisherman. Also, crabs and certain other salt-water invertebrates are particularly sensitive to storage in ice and cold melt water, and often die when they are stored in a cooler. Preventing ice and melt water in the cooler from contacting such animals is therefore advantageous.
These and other problems have been solved by the present invention, which is a adjustable shelving system, with a relatively flat, removable, one-piece shelf and optional leg extensions, for use in conventional ice chests or coolers. Ice or ice substitutes can be stored above or beneath these shelves, according to the intended use of the cooler. Each shelf has a number of small, spaced-apart apertures for draining off melt from the ice. Melted ice, or a spilled liquid, will drain down through the apertures in the stacked shelves to the bottom of the cooler. One preferred embodiment of the shelving system herein partitions the ice at the top xc2xe or so of the cooler. In this preferred embodiment, the stored items are suspended on the shelves between the ice and the ice melt. A shelving system according to the present invention includes a number of stationary legs extending down from the shelf in a vertical direction. When the shelf is in use, these stationary legs hold the shelf several inches off the bottom of the cooler, to prevent goods on the shelf from contacting the ice melt. Optional leg extensions placed over or in the stationary legs can increase the height of the shelf.
A shelving system according to the present invention includes at least one perforated shelf and a number of reversible leg extensions. The shelves can be custom designed by the user to fit close to the bottom of the cooler, or farther away (e.g., where the cooler will be filled with a lot of ice). With the present cooler shelving system, the shelves can be stacked close to each other, or farther away from each other, depending on what items will be stored in the cooler and where the ice or ice substitute will be placed.
A flexible, removable, generally flat, strip handle on an upper surface of the shelf can be grasped for removing the shelf from the cooler. Since it is collapsible, items can be placed on top of the handle, and the handle does not interfere with placement of items on the shelf or with the stacking of one shelf on another. A user can move the handle to any desired area of the shelf, according to the use intended for the cooler that day.
The present invention is a lightweight, adjustable, removable shelving system for separating items stored in a cooler from ice or water in the cooler, which comprises:
(a) at least one generally flat, rectangular-shaped, one-piece, stackable, generally horizontally oriented shelf;
(b) a plurality of generally circular, spaced-apart apertures in the shelf;
(c) a plurality of evenly spaced, same-sized stationary legs projecting downwardly in a generally vertical direction from the lower surface of the generally horizontally oriented shelf; and
(d) a plurality of same-sized, reversible leg extensions, each comprising a projection on one end of the leg extension, the projection extending in the same direction as the remainder of the leg extension, the projection having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the remainder of the leg extension; at least one of the apertures having a diameter sufficient to closely accommodate the projection; each of the leg extensions further comprising a bore in an opposite end, the bore of each of the leg extensions having a diameter of a size for closely accommodating one of the stationary legs;
wherein the projection of the leg extension is closely insertable in one of the apertures of the shelf, and a portion of the stationary leg is closely insertable in the bore of a leg extension.
At least one generally flat, flexible handle positionable across a portion of an upper surface of the shelf is preferably also included. The handle has two opposite, like ends, each handle end being closely and detachably insertable in at least one of the shelf apertures. Also included herein is a stackable, adjustable shelving system for a cooler comprising at least two of the perforated, unitary, stackable shelves, a plurality of the stationary legs affixed to the shelves, a plurality of the reversible leg extensions, and at least one of the handles.